Elevated levels of blood cholesterol and blood lipids are conditions which are believed related to the onset of arteriosclerosis. Thus, compounds capable of reducing the levels of these blood constituents are recognized as potentially useful anti-atherosclerotic agents. The prior art contains many materials which are characterized as potentially useful anti-atherosclerotic agents. The prior art agents and intermediates for the same which applicant believes are most closely structurally related to the compounds of the present invention are as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,025 discloses 3-pyridylmethyl(substituted)phenoxy alkanoates which include 5-tolyloxy-5,5-dimethylpentanoic acid, 3-pyridinyl methyl ester;
U.S. Pat. No. 3,622,587 discloses intermediates of the structure: ##STR1## U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,836 claims 2,2-dimethyl-5-(2,5-xylyloxy)valeric acid.
The compounds of the present invention are useful as hypocholesterolemic agents and possess the additional advantage of elevating the high density lipoprotein fraction of cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol), which is known to lower the risk factor of coronary heart disease (Gordon, T. et al., High Density Lipoprotein as a Protective Factor Against Coronary Heart Disease, May 1977, The American Journal of Medicine, Vol. 62, pp. 707-714).